Cat Decision - need help (New update - pg 4)

Just adding my personal experience with cats.  I have only one, indoor only cat.  He is 10 years old and a total cuddle buddy.  When he dies I won't get any more cats.  Hate, hate, hate the litter box issue.  I have tried just about everything but nothing eliminates the aroma of fresh cat poop.  I clean twice a day.  I have not tried the automatic litter box thing, too expensive if I'm not getting another cat.  I have had cats all my life and have had indoor and outdoor.  Outdoors is just to dangerous IMO.

Of course, I said I would never get another cat 10 years ago and then this guy showed up meowing and well, who knows what life will bring us?

Good luck if you decide to take one or both.

I have four indoor only cats.  We have a small room off of the bathroom where the boxes are kept. As long as we scoop daily, there's no odor at all. And at times we can skip a day without issue if need be.  I suppose if I stood there right as they went to the bathroom, there might be an odor until it was fully covered, but I have a gassy dog and his smell lingers at times for a moment too, so not a big deal

grab01

kept. As long as we scoop daily, there's no odor at all

Not picking on you I promise...I have cats too. But ANYONE who does not live in your home would probably know you have cats right when they walk in.

I know our home, smells like animals. It's not unpleasant and it's not detectable or bothersome to me my dh or anyone that lives here really. BUT to say a home with even one cat is odorless is to me stretching just a bit. Odor is part of living with animals and I giggle a bit inside when people make comments that they don't smell anything...of course you don't...you live there!

I have seen many a HGTV show where someone walks into a VERY nice very well kept home and the first thing they say is "do they have cats?"....LOL. It's like a diaper pail and diapers when you're a parent. You don't notice it after a while but people visiting you just might...LOL.

Bit OT, but odor is a consideration when you decide to have cats, esp indoor cats, IMO. It is different than dog odor and can be a lot stronger...(esp since many a cats first line of voicing disapproval of things is inappropriate elimination) IMO.

well there's a litter smell..of the litter itself. But it doesn't smell of cat poop sitting around all day I'm certain that others pick up that I have pets, but I think that just comes with what one is familiar with.  I don't expect my home to be sterile though. I'm also lucky in that my cats don't pee outside the box.  They express their displeasure of things vocally.  I also follow the rule of having at least one box per cat, which does help quite a bit.  If everyone was using just one or two boxes, that would produce much more odor.

Now, last week I had to run home on my lunch hour to pick something up. Legend had had an accident in  the kitchen so, being low on time, I scooped it, bagged and knotted it, and threw it in the trash, rather than in the outside dumpster in the alley. When I got home, I swore my house was filled with gross baby diapers. That was gross.  And I had to immediately run the trash out and still wait for it to air out. Gag

ETA that the male cats I've had have always been very friendly. I've also known some really friendly females..my Del cat is the sweetest girl ever. She's happy to just flop in your arms and be carted around.

 I know my home has a definite "pet" smell.  For me that's just part of owning a pet (of ANY kind).  If I was too obsessed with their being NO smell, might as well not have any pets.  It's not a bad smell, but I'm sure people can tell we have cats and dogs.  Just like I can tell when someone is a smoker (even if they don't smoke indoors), or wears too much perfume, or has icky potpurri.... My parent's home (which used to me my grandma's) smells weird to me and they've never had a pet.  I'd rather have my "doggy" house anyday, to me it smells like home.

I have a male and two females. The male is pretty aloof, but has a cocky, confident nature so he's the least shy of new people.  When my in-laws stay here they say he just goes about his business like he owns the place.  My older female is shy, but also the most curious.  She's the most cat-like in that she has the most prey drive and is the best hunter.  She doesn't like to be picked up or carried, but she loves to sleep on my bed.  My male I can pick up and carry and he won't bite.  He likes to sit next to me or on the back of the couch.  My young female is like a baby.  She whines and paws at my leg to be carried.  She LOVES being carried and held against my chest.  If I'm leaning over the computer she will howl until I sit back so she can be in my lap and put her paws around my neck.  Funny though, she's the least sure of new people and took the longest to come around with the dogs.  My male will sleep next to the dogs and the other female will rub her face on them, but the younger female still gets a little uneasy if the dogs are smelling her or running around.

The little female on my lap and my male's tail

(here she is now as I type this, pawing at my thigh)

UPDATE!!!

I got permission from the landlord today for both fostering and adopting if he fits! This is especially good since he goes up for adoption on Monday(he was on a health hold while being treated for the URI).

Another update for those who are still following the story:

DH said yes to the kitty, so assuming his FeLeuk and FIV test comes back clean, we'll start fostering on Monday. :)  We'll decide if he's a fit by a week from tomorrow and go from there. :)

rwbeagles

grab01

kept. As long as we scoop daily, there's no odor at all

Not picking on you I promise...I have cats too. But ANYONE who does not live in your home would probably know you have cats right when they walk in.

Yeah, pretty much....I thought my house didn't smell at all, but I tried to sell it a while back and despite the fact that I would spend a couple hours before showings cleaning and deodorizing, removing crates, hiding litter boxes, etc, pet odor was a common negative....I swear I don't smell it unless a cat has just pooped....I do think it was better in my old house where we had a basement and put the boxes in there...my new house has no basement or garage and I hate it.

 I scoop 2x daily and the only odor I ever smell is the litter itself.

We're going to try "World's Best" cat litter (corn based) and then if we do decide to keep the kitten, we'll likely try to toilet train him to avoid litter entirely, especially since we ran the numbers and we'd be spending a god awful amount on litter annually. :P

This house has a garage, but I'm not sure how to set up a litter area out there w/o risking a loose kitty, nor how to get him out there in the first place, so I think we'll be going with a covered box and the corn based litter for now with scooping in the am and pm - if I gotta pick up dog poop twice a day, I can scoop a litter box twice a day for now. :)  I might consider putting it out on the deck w/ a cat door since the door is a slider, but I have to see if it's escape proof - about 10 feet off the ground with no stairs, so that'll help.

In our appartment I let my cats on the deck.  Three stories up.  I bought some screen and put it around the railing.  They would STILL jump up on the railing.  They would not jump three stories but 10 feet would be no problem.  Two of mine were front declawed before I got them so I always closely monitored them on the deck so they wouldn't slip.

Watch the dogs around the litter.  If they are anything like mine and any dog that's come into my house, an expen will not stop them from getting at the cat box.  I keep mine in the basement and have a cat hole cut in the door.  Anytime I leave the door unlatched Coke is raiding the cat box.  And I have covered boxes turned backwards in wire crates.  It takes Coke about 3 seconds to pull the box out and rip the cover off.

YAY!! You are getting a kitty!! please, please, please: photos!!

I can't help with the litter box vs. dog, because Thor won't mess with it. Good luck though, maybe Z and Maggie will be that way too.

 Yea paws crossed about the girls and the kitty and kitty litter.  At least the expen I have is really sturdy as it's drop pin and has a topper so it can't be pushed around.  I think I'm going to try a top entry box to minimize litter mess and smell and act as another layer of protection from dogs.

So I just got back from visiting the kitten and have pics I'm getting ready to post in the photo section. :)

DH tagged along and he says he thinks the cat "is an alright cat" which means he is cool with him. :) This cat does amaze me; at 4 months old he is chill with new people to the point of playing ragdoll in our arms, calm and holds his ground with the foster's GSD mix (hisses and sometimes swats with claws retracted), is cool with handling his feet and toes, chill with a check of his teeth, and just an all around nifty cat. :)  He purrs almost nonstop as well lol and is very outgoing, moreso than his siblings.

I'm expecting to bring him home tomorrow or Tuesday.  Off to go get cat stuff later this afternoon and time to organize my office so I can set up the expen as well. :)